شَمِّر شَبابَكَ في قَتلي وَتَعذيبي

فَقَد تَسَربَلتَ ثَوبَ الحُسنِ وَالطيبِ

Roll up your sleeves in my killing and torturing

Mobilize your youth to slay and torture me,

For you have worn the garment of beauty and fragrance

For you are clad in the raiment of beauty and scent.

عَينايَ تَشهَدُ أَنّي عاشِقٌ لَكُمُ

يا دُميَةً صَوَّروها في المَحاريبِ

My eyes testify that I am a lover of you

My eyes bear witness that I am enamored of you,

O doll they portrayed in temples

O idol fashioned within the holy niches.

جَرَّبتُ مِنكِ أُموراً صَدَّعَت كَبِدي

نَعَم وَأَودَت بِما تَحتَ الجَلابيبِ

I have experienced from you things that cracked my liver

I have endured deeds from you that shattered my heart,

Yes, and what's under the robes almost killed me

Yes, and ravaged all that lies beneath my cloak.

اِفهَم فَدَيتُكَ بَيتاً سائِراً مَثَلاً

مِن أَوَّلٍ كانَ يَأتي بِالأَعاجيبِ

Understand, my redemption, an exemplary verse

Understand—may I be your ransom—a verse proverbially cited,

Of one who used to come with wonders

From a sage of old who brought forth wonders:

لا تَحمَدَنَّ اِمرَأً مِن غَيرِ تَجرِبَةٍ

وَلا تَذُمَّنَّهُ إِلّا بِتَجريبِ

Do not praise a man without trying him

"Do not praise a man without prior trial,

And do not dispraise him except by trial

And do not condemn him until he has been tested."

وَقَهوَةٍ مِثلُ عَينِ الديكِ صافِيَةً

مِن خَمرِ عانَةَ أَو مِن خَمرَةِ السِيَبِ

And coffee like the eye of a rooster; pure

And wine! Clear as the rooster's eye, refined,

Of the wine of grapes or of the wine of apples

From the vintage of 'Anah or the cellars of al-Siyab.

كَأَنَّ أَحداقَها وَالماءُ يَقرَعُها

في ساحَةِ الكَأسِ أَحداقُ اليَعاسيبِ

As if its beads and the water hitting them

It is as though its bubbles, when the water strikes them,

In the cup area, the beads of the night owls

Are the eyes of dragonflies in the courtyard of the cup.

يَسعى بِها مِثلَ قَرنِ الشَمسِ ذو كِفلٍ

يَشفي الضَجيعَ بِذي ظَلمٍ وَتَشنيبِ

Seeking it like the horn of the sun with broad shoulders

A cupbearer serves it, radiant as a sunbeam, graceful of form,

That heals the sick one of oppression and rebuke

Healing his companion with lips lustrous and cool.

كَأَنَّهُ كُلَّما حاوَلتُ نائِلَهُ

ذو نَخوَةٍ ناشِئٌ بَينَ الأَعاريبِ

It is as if whenever I tried to obtain it

It is as if he, whenever I seek to win his favor,

A noble youth sprouting between the Arabs

Is a haughty lord raised among the wild desert tribes.

يَسطو عَلَيَّ بِحُسنٍ لَستُ أُنكِرُهُ

يا مَن رَأى حَمَلاً يَسطو عَلى ذيبِ

Assaults me with a beauty I do not deny

He assaults me with a beauty I cannot deny;

O you who saw a foal assault a wolf

O, who has ever seen a lamb assault a wolf?